Patrick and Stenhouse had appeared together in commercials for Nationwide, but a video posted Thursday to YouTube was the first time they had done an official promotion since going public as a couple in late January.

The 50-second spot, which was collaboration between Patrick's sponsor, Go Daddy, and Sprint, raises awareness for an online fan vote to determine a slot in the Sprint All-Star Race. It was filmed in Patrick's motorhome at Texas Motor Speedway two weeks ago and was written by Joe Crowley, Patrick's PR representative.

"I thought it was a clever little script," Patrick said. "We shot it in 20 minutes. Obviously, we both want to be in the race and to try to create a little bit of buzz to get people to go vote and have some fun with it."

As Sprint Cup rookies, Patrick and Stenhouse are eligible for the race but neither has won yet to qualify.

In the video, Patrick lobbies for Stenhouse's ballot ("Babe," she pouts slightly when he indicates he's voting for himself). She giggled and said, "I suppose" when she asked if it felt different to play off their relationship.

"We've done stuff on camera before, (so) it wasn't the first time, but it's clever and cute for the both of us," she said. "I'd vote for him. I like watching Ricky race."

Sprint revealed Wednesday that a slim margin of 19,500 votes separate the current top-10 vote getters (last year, more than 1.2 million votes were cast). Patrick and Stenhouse both are in the top 10, along with AJ Allmendinger, Jeff Burton, Bill Elliott, Bobby Labonte, Jamie McMurray, Juan Pablo Montoya, Martin Truex Jr. and Michael Waltrip.

Patrick said winning the vote would mean a lot, but it was also important to gain experience in the May 18 race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

"You want to entertain your fans," she said. "I hope I can be in the race to do that, but also I want to perform well in the Coke 600 (a week later on the same track). Racing in the All-Star Race definitely would help that."

After becoming the first woman to start from the pole position in Sprint Cup and finishing a career-best eighth in the season-opening Daytona 500, Sunday's Aaron's 499 at Talladega will mark her return to a restrictor-plate track.

Reminded of the pack-style racing of the Izod IndyCar Series (she finished second in a 2010 race at Texas), Patrick has enjoyed much of her greatest success in NASCAR at Daytona and Talladega. She led in all three Nationwide Series races at both tracks last season and was leading with four laps left in the July 2011 race at Daytona before finishing 10th.

Patrick, who has moved full time to Cup this season but is trying to race Nationwide at Talladega this weekend, led five laps in February at the Daytona 500 and was in third entering the final lap before being shuffled to eighth.

"This is the same car we ran at Daytona, and I suppose it's fair to say there should be a little spike in expectations, but you also have to take into consideration on these big speedways that there's a whole lot of luck that comes into it," she said. "Everything's got to be clean. The stops have to be good. You have to stay in the pack. â?¦ We'll just have to hope we're in the right place at the right time."

Patrick second-guessed the moves she made on the final lap at Daytona but drew support from post-race conversations with car owner Tony Stewart and race winner Jimmie Johnson.

"Tony pointed out most specifically there's probably more to lose in third than there was to gain," she said. "By pulling out (of line), I could have just as easily ended up 15th. I have a better idea of what it's going to take, but it's also circumstantial. Jimmie said, 'The two times I've won, I didn't have any plan going into the last lap.' That's where the luck comes in and right place, right time and being Jimmie Johnson."

Patrick said she's gotten more acclimated to restrictor-plate racing than any other aspect of stock-car racing.

"Just being comfortable on the big speedways, comfortable with the pack-style racing that I was so used to in IndyCar on the ovals," she said. "I show up here, and it's a little more comfortable."